terranean highlands, it more nearly resembles our conception of a weed 
than a valuable vegetable possibility. One wonders what primitive white 
man could see in this uninviting, bitter cliff weed, to cause him to throw 
about it his special care. But on this, as on the nature of woman, man 
can only speculate, for the eating of cabbage goes back far beyond our 
historical records and traditions. Among the Greeks it was held in little 
esteem, but the Romans were even poetic in its praise — a kind of praise 
accorded but rarely these modem days to such prosaic food. The Roman 
varieties are believed to have been of the loose, flat-headed type, the 
varieties with conical heads being considered as quite modern, possibly 
resulting from accidental crosses with the Chinese cabbage. Cabbages 
were cultivated by the ancient Celts of Scotland, and perhaps several of 
our forms were brought from Asia by the early migratory hordes. There 
are said to be no taxonomic varieties of the wild cabbage although it is 
a very variable species. Of cultivated varieties — their name is legion. For 
it is impossible to call to mind a plant that has varied so in every part 
of its structure, from the shape of its roots to the crown of its flower 
stalk. Three hundred or more years ago, a turnip-rooted form was grown 
in Bavaria and a somewhat similar form is now grown in some parts of 
France. In kohl-rabi, the stem has changed into a juicy mass of edible 
tissue; in the common “boiled dinner,” sauer-kraut, slaw type of cabbage, 
the stem spaces between each leaf (internodes) have become shortened 
and a head formed, a character present only to a very limited extent in 
the wild type, and according to Darwin not present at all in cultivated 
cabbage grown in hot countries. In leaves, variation has given us the 
crinkly Savoy and red types. Cauliflower and broccoli are simply cabbages 
in which the flowering stalk is much shortened and increased in size and 
the development of many closely packed aborted flower buds brought 
about. In brussels sprouts, a large number of small heads have been sub- 
stituted for the usual single large head. The Georgia collards are head- 
less like the wild cabbage, as is also the kale and the giant cabbage kales 
of Wales and the Channel Islands. The latter produces stems of suf- 
ficient height to make canes and to use as cow-shed rafters, a length of 
8-9 feet being not uncommon. 
When and where these numerous variations occurred, the records tell 
us but little. Cauliflower appears to have been known to the Greeks and 
Romans in a form somewhat resembling a poorly grown broccoli. Accord- 
ing to Pickering, cauliflower was first mentioned in 540 B. C. A German 
writer, Helm, says true cauliflower is of eastern origin and came to Europe 
via Venice and Antwerp. In the 12th century, the Moors of Spain are 
said to have written about it and to have received it from Syria. When 
first brought to western Europe, it was called “cabbage of Cyprus” 
possibly referring to the place where the best seed was grown. Brussels 
sprouts, kohl-rabi and forms corresponding to collards seem to have been 
known in ancient times as also were the red and Savoy types. Sauer- 
kraut, strange as it may seem, is said to have been introduced into Ger- 
many, through Russia, from Asia. 
Almost as remarkable as the diversity of cabbage forms, are those 
coming from the wild lettuce, a roadside weed many of you no doubt have 
trampled under foot many times without ever once associating it with the 
